by William M. Welch, USA TODAY

by William M. Welch, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES - One year after his arrest on charges of lewd acts with young students in the classroom, former teacher Mark Berndt remains in county jail, awaiting trial, while the troubled Miramonte Elementary School where he taught works on emotional recovery.

"Slowly but surely we are healing,'' says Marta Contreras, the new principal at the school in a low-income community home to many Latino immigrants.

With details so shocking that the city schools chief temporarily removed all faculty and staff at the school last February,the case is a parent's nightmare. A teacher who for years had been trusted and welcomed into students' homes was accused of feeding semen to blindfolded children in bizarre games that he photographed.

The case has been a nightmare for the nation's second-largest school system, too.

The Los Angeles Unified School District faces legal claims from at least 189 students and parents. Nearly half of them, 92, have filed lawsuits individually or in groups.

In addition, a California State Auditor's review of the school district triggered by the Miramonte scandal found school officials were slow to act on many allegations of employee misconduct and often failed to notify the state teacher credentialing commission as required. The review found that at least 144 cases were submitted more than one year late, and 31 were more than three years late.

Los Angeles' school system has negotiated with lawyers for many of the Miramonte families. David Holmquist, general counsel for the school district, said the claims could cost the district millions of dollars, though insurance may cover part of the payouts.

But several lawyers for Miramonte families have dropped out of the talks, which are overseen by a former state Supreme Court justice, or refused to enter them. They have accused the school district of failing to negotiate fairly, offer adequate settlements or release internal documents about allegations of abuse by employees.

"The mediation process was a sham. ... It was just a delay tactic on their part,'' says attorney Brian Claypool, who has sued on behalf of 12 children and 19 parents. Those suits allege that the school system allowed children to be victimized repeatedly despite complaints and red flags raised about Berndt over two decades.

Luis Carrillo, who represents another 23 students who have filed suit, said he dropped out of the talks after attorneys for the school district made offers to only two of the children.

"Miserable, insulting offers,'' Carrillo said. "They have been deceptive, dishonest with the kids.''

As the civil actions build, the criminal cases have languished.

Berndt, 61, was arrested Jan. 30, 2012, and charged with 23 counts of lewd acts with a child, the state's child molestation statute. He has pleaded not guilty and has been held since then in a high-security section of the county's Central Men's Jail, unable to meet the $23 million bail set for his release.

A second former teacher was charged as a result of investigations at Miramonte. Martin Springeris free on $300,000 bail as he faces three counts of child molestation for allegedly inappropriately touching a student.

After a series of courtroom continuances sought by his public defender, Berndt in December hired a private lawyer, Manny Medrano, a former federal prosecutor and television news reporter.

Medrano said he will ask the state court to reduce bail, arguing that the initial amount is punitive and far above that set in other high-profile crime cases here, such as Michael Jackson's $3 million bail before he was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005.

Berndt was in Los Angeles Superior Court in mid-December for approval of the new counsel, appearing gray and gaunt in orange jail clothing. Medrano said Berndt will contest the charges.

"He's holding up as well as he can under the circumstances,'' Medrano said. "But when you're incarcerated in that sort of situation ... it's debilitating physically and emotionally.''

Berndt was removed from the classroom in early 2011, two months after investigators were given the first questionable photographs of Miramonte children in late 2010. Berndt initially contested his suspension but in July 2011 accepted a $40,000 settlement from the school district and agreed to retire.

Holmquist, the school general counsel, said Berndt remains eligible for retirement benefits even if convicted.

After his arrest, investigators said they had found hundreds of photos of children taken by Berndt, some with cockroaches on their faces, biting into cookies laced with a milky-white substance and being spoon-fed a similar liquid. Investigators said the substance appeared to be Berndt's semen.

Both teachers "were well loved'' in the community and often were invited by parents to the homes of students, said Pia Escudero, director of school mental health services for the district. Many of the families in the South Los Angeles community of Florence, speak only Spanish.

"Everybody in that school community was in shock,'' she said.

The school system has provided psychiatric counseling to students and employees, Escudero said. Most of the teachers and staff who were removed from the school by Superintendent John Deasy after the allegations became public returned to Miramonte in the fall, she said, and most students have returned, too.

One of the suing parents, Maria Garcia, said she has removed her daughter, 11, from Miramonte and is home-schooling her as the girl deals with the emotional trauma. Garcia, speaking in Spanish through a translator, said she is "very angry with the school'' and feels authorities tried to keep her in the dark about the allegations. Choking up as she spoke, Garcia said her daughter is now introverted and no longer the "very happy child'' of before.

Her daughter and other students are not being named because of their age.

Claypool, the attorney representing Garcia, said he plans to file an additional lawsuit seeking punitive damages against the school system, alleging the district concealed abuse "for many, many years.'' He said the auditor's report and other documents show the district had a policy of not documenting reports of child abuse in teacher personnel files.

"This has become a huge monster,'' Claypool said of the case. "This is not going away, because it is one of the worst instances of child abuse at a single school in our country.''

Although Berndt was suspended in early 2011, parents of his students were not informed of the investigation for almost a year, when Berndt was charged and the case became public. Garcia contends that school officials discouraged her questions and were "just trying to cover up.''

Martha Escutia, a lawyer who once represented the community in the state Senate, said some of the affected children have become angry as they come to understand what they were subjected to. She is representing more than two dozen alleged victims in suits and claims against the district, and she said all of them are in therapy, as are many of their parents, some of whom have worries over immigration status.

"They feel incredible guilt,'' she said of the parents. "These are very working-class immigrant parents. They're working two jobs a day. ... It's a very, very hard life. They feel marginalized because of the immigration system or just aren't aware how to manage the system."